Forest Road 82E Dispersed Camping

I overnighted close to the start of the road, it was so badly washboardeddidn't want to drive far. Yahoos sped through kicking up a lit if dust, it was noisy. Numerous vehicles on Monday mid October, horrified to think what it would be in other days and in season. Woken up before 6am by them. Sound from cars travels very well there you will hear them far off the road. Other than that I felt safe and it was ok for overnight, pine trees everywhere.

Monday through Thursday ok here. Weekends are totally out of control. Razors and ATVs racing around constantly, no consideration for anyone.
Unfortunately this is the case at many Arizona dispersed areas, there needs to be designated areas for ATVs . They should not have free rein to disturb the entire area.
This is a public road. But absolutely no law enforcement at all.
Also gun shots, loud music, dust or mud one or the other.

We found this place a year ago and now it’s our NUMBER ONE go to location for dispersed camping. Yes it’s a long bumpy dirt road but it’s all worth it. We’ve been here half a dozen times usually weekends. And rarely see another rv once we’ve settled in. Yep just right. However not all campers respect the “pack it in, pack it out” concept however

We have camped here several times, most recently 2 weeks in May 2020 and 1 week in June 2020. Most people miss the great spots because they park right off the road. There are several side roads that you can drive down and find fantastic private sites away from the dust! Cell service is bad until you get down by Marshall Lake. If you can see San Francisco Peak you will probably have four bars of 4g service. If you are back in the trees where it is private you will not have cell service or possibly text only. It would be great if people would follow the rules and pack out their garbage. Camping on the road can get dusty and noisy.

Absolutely zero regulation here. I have never camped in a place with worse people on the weekends. Loud, obnoxious, drunken, revilers. Zero consideration for numerous other campers. Apparently there is no law enforcement for this area. People pulled in with headlights on illuminating the side and bedroom of the RV. 3am and the obnoxiousness continued. The 8 tenths of a mile road from Lake Mary Rd to the dispersed site will shake the moulding off the RV. Nasty people leaving garbage around. Bags full. Too much for me to haul away in my Jeep. Quiet Monday to Thursday. I would not stay here ever again especially on weekends, but because of the road too. A bit of road maintenance and weekend enforcement and this would be a wonderful place.

Stayed first week of May. Out of the eight days we had one couple park fairly close for two days wasn’t a big deal. Other than that people were very spread out was not crowded except on the weekend we found no trash, weather was perfect. It was an awesome jumpstart to visit Sedona and Winslow all the places around Flagstaff. Oh and find the barbecue food truck in Flagstaff it’s awesome! Any size rig can find a spot.

LOTS of space and choices for shade or sunshine. 82E is moderately washer-boarded, well-used and dusty, but is mostly downwind from 2 of the 3 loops/sections (loops 1 and 3). The further you venture away from 82E and the main tracks into the camping areas, the rockier it gets. The area was well used on the weekend, but everyone was quite and considerate when I was there. Plenty of space between sites for privacy. There was evidence of tent campers leaving t.p. in places, but I didn't encounter any large quantities of trash.The closest option that I know about for dumping trash, etc. is Flagstaff, but I didn't go into Mormon Creek Village to see what was there. I only went to Ashurst Lake to check it out, so I can't comment about the fishing. It's too small for kayaking, but nearby Mary Lake might be worthwhile for that.

This is a busy and crowded location with a lot of traffic on the Forest Road. While the options are more limited, there are numerous spaces for big rigs. We found a very large spot for our 43' motorhome.

Our cell connection was a weak 4G signal. Calls were hit and miss and video conferencing is a no go for Verizon and AT&T. We work online and could not stay during the work week.

We enjoy coming here. Very pretty and you can position yourself with a fantastic view of Mount Humphrey (Arizona's Highest Mountain at over 12,000 feet). With a trailer and 4 wheel drive you can get yourself positioned in more remote spots. Ashurst Lake is within 3 miles and has great fishing. If you enjoy canoeing there are lots of options for you including Lake Mary and Ashurst Lake. Well maintained forest service roads make bicycling fun and easy. There are also a few great hiking trails in the area. There is some noise with ATV's, travel on the forest service roads and the occasional weekend NAU drunk parties. Hot spots work fantastic at this location, so perfect place to get away and do some work.